Laramie is home to thousands of tiny residents, residents that the University of Wyoming’s Berry Biodiversity Center are trying to protect. These residents are the barred tiger salamanders, the only salamanders native to Wyoming.
These primarily nocturnal salamanders make their spring home at LaBonte park, where they lay their eggs, but getting to the park is not easy. The salamanders have to cross the road to get there, and cars can be a major threat to the 6 inch long amphibians.
“[Road mortality] is probably the biggest [threat] to this urban population because they do have these mass migration nights in the spring and they need to cross the road to get to their breeding pond.” said Brett Adis, one of the volunteers at Saturday’s Salamander Saturday event.
The event had activities for a variety of ages, such as crafts, information on the Berry Center’s research, storytime, and a raffle. It was hosted by the Berry Center in order to increase awareness surrounding tiger salamanders and to let local residents know how they can help better protect and understand the amphibians.
“Today’s event is super important because its helping advocate more for the tiger salamander and getting information out there to the people of Laramie and people on the UW campus to learn more about them and help their species along with different research projects here at the campus.” said Salamander Saturday volunteer Madison Moyer.
Also showcased at the event was the Amphibian Art Show, a collection of works from UW students and Laramie residents that highlights amphibians of all types, from toads to salamanders. This art show is located in the Berry Center lobby and will be on display until May 24.
Salamander Saturday is not the only way the Berry Center is trying to protect tiger salamanders, however. The center also holds two science initiatives for Laramie residents to participate in.
The first is known as the “report a salamander” project, where salamander spotters can input information about a sighted salamander online. This information is used to help the Laramie Salamander Migration Initiative gain a better understanding of the salamander population.
“That’s why we’re doing this, to try to get a better understanding of the population and track it through time, so we can try to get a better understanding of, you know, what are the biggest threats here” said Adis.
The second part of this citizen science initiative is salamander migration nights, where volunteer members of the public help salamanders cross the road during rainy spring nights.
“As rainy spring nights approach, keep an eye out for tiger salamanders, frogs and toads. Our native amphibians will be trying to reach their breeding ponds, but they sometimes need our help.” said Mason Lee, senior project coordinator in the Biodiversity Institute.
